Vestas took 14.6 percent of the market last year, edging
out GE with 13.7 percent, Danish researcher Make Consulting said
today in a report. GE’s 15.5 percent share beat Vestas on 14
percent, Navigant Consulting Inc. (NCI)’s BTM Consult unit said today
in a study confirming preliminary data released on Feb. 11, when
it said Denmark’s Vestas lost its lead after 12 years. Both
researchers had Siemens AG (SIE) in third place.

The diverging results show how competitive the wind market
has become, with Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE benefiting from
a surge in projects in the U.S. market, where developers rushed
to take advantage of an expiring tax credit that lawmakers
ultimately renewed. BTM said 45 gigawatts of new capacity was
added in 2012, with the U.S. installing 13 gigawatts to overtake
China as the biggest market.

“Competition for the number-one spot went down to the
wire” Make said today. Chinese manufacturers slipped down the
table, in part due to a 26 percent decline in Chinese
installations, it said.

The growth in installations last year was 7.8 percent --
higher than 2011, while still below the 5-year average annual
growth of 17.8 percent, BTM said. It lowered its 5-year
prediction by 10 percent to 242 gigawatts of capacity additions
over the 5 years through 2017. That would add about 85 percent
to the current installed capacity of 286 gigawatts.

U.S. Market

“The revised forecast is explained by the challenging
market conditions in the U.S., China and the long-established
wind-power growth engines like Spain and Italy,” BTM said.

While Vestas lost the lead in its ranking, its market share
still rose by 1.1 percent last year, BTM said. GE was “boosted
by a rush to capitalize on the U.S. Production Tax Credit,” it
said. The tax credit pays wind-farm owners 2.2 cents for every
kilowatt-hour of power they produce. It was extended on Jan. 1,
a day after expiring.

Make put Siemens on 10.8 percent of the market, while BTM
said the German conglomerate took 9.5 percent of sales.

Make put Spain’s Gamesa Corp. (GAM) Tecnologica SA in fourth
place at 8.2 percent, and Germany’s Enercon GmbH in fifth with
7.8 percent. India’s Suzlon Energy Ltd. (SUEL) was sixth at 6.5
percent, while the top 10 was rounded out by four Chinese
companies: Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co., Guodian
United Power Technology Co., Sinovel Wind Group (601558) Co. and
Guangdong Mingyang Wind Power Industry Group Co.

In BTM’s ranking, Enercon was fourth, Suzlon fifth and
Gamesa was sixth, with the four Chinese manufacturers occupying
the same positions as in Make’s survey.